Quakertown: Lunch ladies can keep their jobs

In exchange for the two-year guarantee, the district hires outside company to manage food services.

May 24, 2013|By Melinda Rizzo, Special to The Morning Call

Facing an outcry from the community as well as its staff, the Quakertown Community School District has struck an agreement that will allow cafeteria workers to keep their jobs while letting the district outsource food management services.

Under an agreement with the Quakertown Educational Support Personnel Association, cafeteria workers would see their hourly pay rates reduced 10 to 13 percent and contribute more toward medical and dental insurance.

In exchange, the district pledged not to outsource their jobs for two years. The school board's vote Thursday was unanimous. School Directors Kelly Van Valkenburgh and Anna Cattie were absent.

The board also unanimously voted to hire Chartwells, a dining service company owned by Compass Group North America of North Carolina, as food services manager.

The one-year contract would automatically renew each year, unless the district gives notice not to continue, school officials said.

The agreement with the union comes in the wake of protests from parents and staff members over outsourcing food and custodial services.

In March, more than 100 people showed up at a school board meeting, many saying they didn't want strangers from outside providers around their children. They also pointed out that many of the cafeteria and custodial workers live in the district and pay taxes.

The district's contract with the 242-member support personnel union ends June 30. Besides cafeteria and custodial workers, it covers aides, maintenance workers and secretaries.

The agreement was adopted ahead of the larger formal contract, which remains in negotiations, district officials said.

"What we have right now is that the food service staff, except for managers, is off the table. The secretaries and aides really are as well, as their wages are in line with what is paid in the outside market," Superintendent Lisa Andrejko said.

It remained unclear how the district would proceed with the custodial staff.

Andrejko said the decision to outsource the food services management included concerns about the costs to provide meals to students.

"Our goal is for the food services budget to be revenue neutral, or self-sustaining, and over the past several years it has been losing money," Andrejko said.

Board President Bob Smith said the district did not have the resources to be competitive in buying food, and expected the new arrangement to broaden menu choices, and bring down costs.

"We have very low buying power. We're going out to Giant to buy supplies. Larger companies have significantly more resources," Smith explained.

"Any profit the company makes will remain in the food services budget. We continue to own all the equipment, and it needs to be serviced and maintained. There is no intention of making food services a larger profit center to fund the district's budget," Andrejko said.

Andrejko said she is optimistic all the current food services managers, who aren't cover by the union, would be brought on by Chartwells.